Publicado 18-11-2025
Palavras-chave
- biopolítica,
- xenotransplante,
- animais,
- humanização
Copyright (c) 2025 Johannes Kögel

Este trabalho está licenciado sob uma licença Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Resumo
Os papéis dos animais—particularmente porcos e primatas não humanos—na xenotransplantação revelam dinâmicas éticas e simbólicas complexas. Os primatas não humanos, devido à sua proximidade cognitiva com os seres humanos, passaram progressivamente a ser posicionados como receptores e não como fontes de órgãos, refletindo um “upgrade hierárquico” ético. Os porcos, geneticamente modificados para fornecer órgãos, encarnam um status ambíguo: altamente alienados pela manipulação biotecnológica e pelo confinamento estéril, como “biocapital” mercantilizado e inserido em lógicas de mercado. A sua “humanização”, além de uma alteração genética, também implica ocupar o lugar de humanos, embora em um papel diferente do desempenhado pelos primatas. A conotação ética disso pode beneficiar esses animais a longo prazo. Reconhecer a alteridade animal—não apenas como corpos biológicos, mas como sujeitos intencionais—como, por exemplo, sugerido pela metafísica ameríndia, reformula a compreensão da identidade e da prática médica em meio a concepções moleculares e semióticas da vida. Essas considerações demandam uma reflexão mais nuançada sobre as fronteiras entre natureza, cultura e espécie na biomedicina contemporânea.
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